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by WILL FOLKS
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In yet another example of those who claim to be “for the children” looking out for themselves, the former executive director of the Kershaw County, South Carolina ‘First Steps‘ program has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of breach of trust and fraud.
Kimberley Renee Jordan, 56, of Columbia, S.C. deprived the local office of this government-run school readiness program of approximately $184,000 as a result of a variety of schemes, per a news release from the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
According to probable cause affidavits accompanying the warrants for her arrest, Jordan used a First Steps credit card for personal purchases, falsified official expense reports, submitted “fictitious invoices” and duplicated mileage forms, among other illegal acts. One affidavit noted Jordan used a First Steps-issued card for “the purchase of a vacation to Jamaica.”
Jordan was charged with four counts of breach of trust with fraudulent intent – including two charges in which the value of the alleged fraud totaled more than $10,000. She was also charged with six counts of obtaining property under false pretenses – including five counts in which the alleged property was valued at more than $10,000.
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Jordan’s alleged criminal activity spanned from December 2018 through December 2023. During that time, she repeatedly attested on annual financial reports that she and her agency “continued to be good stewards of the money entrusted to us.”
Statewide, First Steps received a whopping $91.67 million in the budget which took effect on July 1, 2025 – including $20.54 million in general fund dollars (i.e. money from state tax revenues). Despite operating since 1999 and receiving hundreds of millions in tax dollars – and additional revenues from private sources – the agency acknowledged in its latest annual report that nearly six out of ten children (59%) entering kindergarten in the Palmetto State tested “not ready” for school. In Kershaw County, the percentage of children testing “not ready” was 66%.
South Carolina lawmakers have known for more than a decade that First Steps wasn’t working. In 2013, a report from the S.C. Legislative Audit Council (SCLAC) exposed glaring failures in the program.
“The percentages of children at-risk for not being ready to succeed in school have not decreased since 2000,” the audit noted, referencing the first full year of the program’s implementation.
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The audit (.pdf) also accused the agency of reporting “questionable statistics” to the public and failing to disclose data that would have painted its efforts in a negative light.
FITSNews called on the program to be eliminated in an editorial published back in 2015.
“Not only is it ineffective and expensive, but it doesn’t work,” we wrote. “Cut it. Now.”
SLED’s investigation into Jordan was requested by the S.C. First Steps office. She was booked into the Kershaw County detention center. Her case will be prosecuted by the office of S.C. fifth circuit solicitor Byron Gipson.
As with anyone accused of committing any crime, Jordan is considered innocent until proven guilty by our criminal justice system – or until such time as she may wish to enter some form of allocution in connection with a plea agreement with prosecutors related to any of the charges filed against her.
Regular readers of FITSNews may recall our media outlet has repeatedly editorialized that individuals who steal from taxpayers should be subjected to mandatory minimum jail sentences.
“If citizens want real accountability when their money is stolen, when their rights are violated, when their trust is abused and when their faith in the institutions they rely upon for equal justice is betrayed, then they have to insist upon it,” we wrote in 2020.
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THE RELEASE…
(SLED)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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2 comments
So after 13 years the program was audited and found not to be producing any positive impact. So, we funded it for another 12 years. Classic RINO milquetoast legislating. How about we have another audit, and if it really has had almost no impact still, cut the damn thing?
I Doubt She will be Held Completely Accountable! Are they Going to Recover the Money from her By Selling her House and Cars??